Fall JECE Panel to Examine Uranium Mining in Virginia

On Friday, Nov. 1, the Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment will host a panel discussion on Uranium Mining in Virginia.

The panel will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Millhiser Moot Court Room, Sydney Lewis Hall on the campus of Washington and Lee University. This event is free and open to the public.

Currently, there is a state-imposed moratorium on Uranium mining in Virginia, and the idea of lifting this moratorium has become a hot issue during the current governor’s race in the state. Both the Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli and Democratic challenger Terry McAuliffe support the end of the moratorium if the mining can be done safely.

Uranium mining could bring thousands of new jobs to Virginia, but residents of affected areas have raised concerns about the environmental impacts of the mining operations, including the contamination of ground water.

The JECE panel will feature Robert Bodnar, Professor at Virginia Tech, Cale Jaffe of the Southern Environmental Law Institute, Suzanne Phelps of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Chris Pugsley of Thompson & Pugsley, PLLC, Frank Settle, Professor of Chemistry at Washington and Lee University, and Kristin Szakos, Vice Mayor of Charlottesville.

The Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment is a student-edited periodical whose mission is to engage and educate the legal community, policy-makers, and the general public through publications and symposia on climate change, energy, and environmental issues affecting local, national, and global communities. Learn more about the Journal at http://law.wlu.edu/jece.

For more information about JECE or the upcoming panel, please contact Casey Coleman at coleman.k@law.wlu.edu.